Chapter 74: Sending troops to the South Central

Li Hui gave up Jianning and retreated to Zhuti.

Zhuti County is located between Yueli and the ridge, and is the southernmost gateway to Chengdu.

As soon as Li Hui returned to Jianning, he received news that King Yi Gao Ding of Yueli killed the prefect Zheng Ang and raised his troops to rebel. At the same time, the prefect Zhu Bao led 30,000 Wuxi barbarians, plus 20,000 people under Zhu Bao's command to attack Jianning.

Because Li Hui had evacuated Jianning, Zhu Bao occupied Jianning almost without any blood.

Then Zhu Bao continued to attack Zhuti in the north, but at this time Li Hui had already set up a defense line in Zhuti and sent people back to Chengdu for help.

Zhuti.

Lu Kai hurriedly came to Li Hui and said, "Sir, I just received the news that Yueli Gaoding led 70,000 troops and was attacking Zhu Ti. Moreover, the Yongqi army has also left Yongchang and has arrived in Jianning."

Li Hui nodded and said, "Ji Ping, thank you for your hard work these days."

After Li Hui retreated to Zhuti, he saw that he had begun to set up defenses. Because Li Hui had not enough men, Lu Kai was valued by Li Hui. Lu Kai did not disappoint Li Hui, and he was well-organized and highly appreciated by Li Hui.

Lu Kai smiled and asked, "Sir, now that the thief army is attacking, I wonder if there is a solution?"

"Zhuti is the gateway south of Chengdu, so there is no way to miss it. So I am ready to guard Zhuti, and I have sent someone back to Chengdu to ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for help." Li Hui replied.

"Sir, in fact, now that Lu Xun's army is more than 100,000 attacking our Shu area, I think the Crown Prince may be too busy to take care of himself. I'm afraid it's difficult to get to our place." Lu Kai said.

"Yes, Lu Xun has more than 100,000 people! I'm afraid that in a short period of time, the Crown Prince will not be able to take care of us." Li Hui said with a frown.

Whether it was Li Hui or Lu Kai, they all believed that Lu Xun's army of more than 100,000 troops came over, and the war would probably last for a year or two, so it would be impossible for too many reinforcements to support Zhu Ti in a short period of time.

Li Hui and Lu Kai naturally didn't know that Lu Xun was almost trapped in the Eighth Formation, and Yiling's food and grass were burned by Adou. This battle lasted only ten days.

Seeing Li Hui frowning, Lu Kai knew that Li Hui had no choice. Lu Kai hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Sir, I want to recommend someone to you. This person has the talent of conquering the world, and with this person here, he will definitely be able to defend Zhu Ti."

"Who is this person?" Li Hui asked hurriedly.

"This person's name is Wang Kang, a native of Chengdu. I met this person when I was studying in Chengdu. I heard that he is now in Zhuti."

"Okay, I will send someone to invite Wang Kang here tomorrow."

Baidi.

After A Dou returned to Baidi, he was warmly welcomed by the soldiers of the three armies.

Repelling more than 100,000 Lu Xun's water and land army within a few days is a great victory in anyone's opinion. Although the Jiangdong army finally escaped, this did not affect the spread of A Dou's reputation in the army.

Zhang Ren immediately held a grand celebration banquet for Adou, and Zhang Ren also allowed the soldiers of the three armies to drink and slaughter pigs and sheep in Baidi City, which was very lively.

Late at night, several soldiers surrounded the city tower of Baidi City and enjoyed the hot food.

The sound of horse hooves came from a distance, and then a few horses came to the city of Baidi.

The soldiers on the city tower stood up and looked down at the city, and saw a few people covered in dust standing under the city. However, judging from their clothes, these people were all Shu troops, and they were wearing the same high-end armor, which was not something that ordinary Shu troops could wear.

"Who is coming?" the man from the city shouted.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince can be in the city, Chengdu urgently reports!"

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is in the city. Please wait for this general. I will report it immediately. But please send us the identity seal to us and shoot the city. We can also report it." The soldiers on the city shouted.

The people under the city immediately bent their bows and arrows and shot the letters that could prove their identity to the city. When the soldiers guarding the city opened it, they found that the one covered it was actually the mark of General Sima Zuo's mansion.

Now that Liu Bei is in the Northern Expedition, the Left General Grand Sima Mansion has been handed over to Zhang Song and Li Yan to manage. Now, these people are sent from the Left General Grand Sima Mansion.

The soldiers on the city did not dare to neglect and immediately went to repay Zhang Ren.

Inside the city.

Zhang Ren rushed into Adou's room in three steps.

"General Zhang Ren, why are you so busy?" A Dou asked.

Zhang Ren took a few breaths before speaking: "Your Highness, Chengdu urgently reported! Meng Huo, Yongchang Yongkai, Yueli, and Zhu Bao jointly rebelled!"

"What about Li Hui?"

"Mr. Li has withdrawn from Kunming and headed to Zhuti to deploy defense."

"I understand!" Adou said calmly.

Adou's calm reaction made Zhang Ren slightly surprised. If such a big thing happened, Adou's reaction was too calm.

"Zhang Ren, tell Zhang Yi that I will rush back to Chengdu now and let him catch up tomorrow." As Adou said, he hung the treasure bag around his waist, then walked out, and disappeared into the darkness in a blink of an eye.

Seeing A Dou leave, Zhang Ren opened his mouth and didn't say anything. Today, Zhang Ren finally knew what it means to be calm in the face of changes. When encountering such a big thing, A Dou just said "I understand." I'm afraid even Zhuge Liang could not be so calm.

Zhang Ren didn't know that Adou had already been confident about the affairs of the Southern Barbarians.

In history, Yongkai, Zhu Bao, Gao Ding and others rebelled after Liu Bei's death. At that time, Jiaozhou Shi Xie persuaded Yongkai to raise an army to rebel against Shu, and Sun Quan also appointed Yongkai as the prefect of Yongchang.

However, the rebellion was quickly pacified by Zhuge Liang, and then Zhuge Liang took advantage of the victory to pursue Meng Huo, the Southern Barbarians, and finally completely pacified Nanzhong.

For Adou, now it is just a repetition of this history. There are still only a few rebels, but the rebellion time is slightly ahead of schedule, and the work that should have been done by Zhuge Liang is pressing on Adou.

Zhuge Liang's campaign against Nanzhong and pacified Meng Huo was generally very successful. After one battle, he not only subdued Meng Huo, but also completely solved the problem of the Southern Barbarians that had been plagued by many years, solved the worries of Shu's later Northern Expedition, but also obtained a large number of troops and formed a Wudang Flying Army. This army mainly composed of barbarians made significant contributions to the middle and late period of Shu.

Although the Southern Barbarians were brave and good at fighting, their equipment and training were much worse than those of the Shu army, and the command level of the Southern Barbarian generals could not be compared with that of the Shu army generals. Therefore, when fighting head-on, the Southern Barbarians who lack equipment were definitely not the opponent of the Shu army. However, the terrain of the barbarian land was complex, with many snakes, insects, poisonous miasma in the rain forest, and the hot climate, the Shu army was unable to adapt to the water and land in the barbarian land, and was prone to infection with epidemics. These are the advantages of the Southern Barbarians.

When expeditioning Meng Huo of the Southern Barbarians, due to the restrictions on the terrain, it will be very inconvenient for the army to go deep into the food and supplies. In addition, the gap in combat effectiveness, if you conquer the Southern Barbarians, you don’t need to bring too many troops. There are still 30,000 troops in Chengdu, which is enough for Adou. Adou only needs to follow the script set by Zhuge Liang that he knows.

Chengdu, General Left Grand Sima's Mansion.

Although Zhuge Liang is no longer a military advisor, but a prime minister, the location where Zhuge Liang works is still called General Zuo Grand Sima's Mansion, which is also the central nervous system of the entire Shu Kingdom, and almost all the decrees are issued from here.

Zhuge Liang was not Cao Cao, so naturally he could not open the mansion alone like Cao Cao. Therefore, after Liu Bei ascended the throne, although all the ministers under his command were promoted, the name of the Left General Grand Sima Mansion remained unchanged, and the important members were still there, but the official rank was promoted.

Whether it was civil or martial arts, Liu Bei was only considered to be sparse and ordinary, and Liu Bei was also very self-aware and was willing to delegate power to the Zuo General's Mansion, so in Shu, the authority of the Zuo General's Mansion was second only to the emperor Liu Bei.

Liu Bei attacked Yongzhou in the north and took Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang away. However, for the normal operation of the country, he still left many people in the Zuo General's Mansion. Now the person in charge of the Zuo General's Mansion is Zhang Song and Li Yan, and others such as Ma Liang, Jiang Wan, Dong Zhao, Huang Quan and others assisted the people.

In the hall, Li Yan kept wandering back and forth.

"I said Zheng Fang, don't turn back and forth, as I'm dizzy!" Zhang Song from the side said.

"Brother Yongnian, I'm anxious! Several counties in the south are rebelling and are now attacking Zhuti, Zhuti is the gateway to the south of Chengdu. If it is captured by the rebels, Chengdu will be in danger!" Li Yan replied.

"Just keep worried, Li Hui is still in Zhuti."

"Li De'ang is talented, but he has a few soldiers and generals. I'm afraid it will be difficult to hold on for too long! There are still 30,000 troops in Chengdu. As long as we can support Li Hui in time, we will definitely be able to protect Zhu Ti. However, the power to transfer troops is in the hands of the prince. Now the prince is not here, ah..." Li Yan sighed.

"Haven't we have sent someone to Yong'an to find the prince? We'll probably be back in three or four days." Zhang Song said.

It takes a lot of time to get from Chengdu to Yong'an, so Zhang Song calculated based on the time that it will take Adou three or four days to come back.

And at this moment, a long voice came from outside: "The prince is here..."

Zhang Song was startled and finally murmured: "Why did the prince come so quickly!"

Zhang Song didn't know that Adou came day and night, so he arrived in Chengdu earlier than expected.

Looking at the letter of help sent back by Li Hui, A Dou frowned: "Why are the Wuxi barbarians also involved?"

In A Dou's impression, Yong Kai, Zhu Bao and Gao Ding rebelled, and there was nothing wrong with the Wuxi barbarians. Moreover, A Dou always thought that the Wuxi barbarians were standing on the side of Shu Kingdom. During the Battle of Yiling, the Wuxi barbarian king Shamoke also helped Liu Bei kill Gan Ning.

After thinking about it carefully, A Dou remembered that the reason why the Wuxi barbarians went to help Liu Bei was lobbying by Ma Liang. Liu Bei also said that the relationship between the Ma family and the Wuxi barbarians was very good. Now it is better to let Ma Liang persuade the Wuxi barbarians, so that you can take him for yourself. Thinking of this, A Dou said, "Call the Shizhong Ma Liang here immediately!"

Soon, Ma Liang was called over.

Ma Liang is only 36 years old this year and is quite handsome, but Ma Liang's eyebrows are white and quite conspicuous.

After seeing Adou, Ma Liang asked, "Your Highness the Crown Prince is asking you to come down, but for the sake of the Wuxi barbarians?"

Adou nodded. People said that Ma's five common people are the most beautiful, and the white eyebrows are the most beautiful. Sure enough, Ma Liang had already guessed the intention of handing him over to him.

Adou nodded and asked, "Sir Ma, I heard that you have a strong friendship with the Wuxi barbarians. I want you to persuade the Wuxi barbarians. I wonder if you are sure?"

"Don't worry, Your Highness the Crown Prince. I will set off for Wuxi tomorrow to find the Wuxi barbarian king Shamoke and persuade him to withdraw his troops." Ma Liang said.

"Then this matter will be annoying Lord Laoma. But it is not enough to just retreat. Go and tell Shamoke that as long as he is willing to surrender to me, he will be appointed as the former general and allow him to move the barbarians of Wuxi to my Yizhou." A Dou said.

Ma Liang raised his eyebrows and thought to himself that His Royal Highness's capital this time is enough. The so-called former general is just a false title, which doesn't matter. However, moving the barbarians of Wuxi to Yizhou is a big pie for Shamoke.

People in the Central Plains have always looked down on the so-called out-of-transformed people such as the barbarians. Because of their lack of technology and low productivity, most of them are in a barbaric period and have extremely low living standards. For these barbarians, being able to live a farming life like the Han people and not having to be haunted by wild animals is the greatest pursuit in their lives.

However, the Han people believed that if they were not my race, their hearts would be different and they refused to accept these barbarians. The first great ethnic integration in China was during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, so the Han people during the Three Kingdoms era could not accept these so-called outward people in their hearts, especially for the barbarians and Shanyue. The Han people always had a hint of contempt and disdain for them. Now, A Dou is willing to accept these barbarians, which is a huge good news for the Wuxi barbarians.

After Ma Liang left, Li Yan immediately replied: "Your Highness, now Yong Kai, Zhu Bao and Gao Ding are stolen, gathering more than 100,000 people. Lord Li Hui is trapped in Zhu Ti, and I am afraid that it will not last long. Zhu Ti is the gateway to the south of Chengdu, so I must not lose it. I think troops should be sent to Zhu Ti immediately to support Lord Li Hui."

"It's right. Lord Li, how much food and grass do we have in Chengdu now?" A Dou asked after a change of words.

Li Yan thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty took away a lot of food and grass from Chengdu during this Northern Expedition, but now the Chengdu granary is still full forty-five percent."

"Maybe it support my 100,000 army to monghuo in the south?"

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is going to fight Meng Huo in the south?" Meng Da asked incrediblely, with his eyes wide open.

"Yes, now we are taking this opportunity to send troops to the Southern Barbarians to solve Meng Huo's worries." A Dou said.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, there are only 30,000 people in Chengdu. Even if Zhu Ti's county soldiers are added, there are only more than 40,000. Moreover, there are more than 100,000 people in Yong Kai, Zhu Bao and Gao Ding. The Southern Barbarians may not be less than 100,000 people. How can we beat them? Your Highness the Crown Prince must think twice!"

"Mr. Li is right. In this way, we have only 100,000 people, but we only need to surrender the rebels of Gao Ding, so we will have troops?" A Dou said.

Zhang Song is a smart man. When he heard Adou say this, he immediately asked: "Did Your Highness the Crown Prince have already made a decision?"

"Now the rebels of Yong Kai, Zhu Bao and Gao Ding seem to be powerful, but the three of them can never trust each other. Therefore, we only need to use a divisive strategy to divide the three of them. The rebels will definitely be self-defeating. If they are properly operated, they may be able to surrender these rebels for my use."
To be continued...